General Assembly Shakes Up Wilder's Budget

RICHMOND — State lawmakers have thrown down a gauntlet to Gov. L. Douglas Wilder by revising or rejecting many of the key provisions of his budget balancing plan.

The General Assembly's money committees - with the Senate taking the lead in rebuking Wilder - asserted themselves Sunday on the budget and for the first time revised provisions on gubernatorial powers that some fell Wilder has abused. The Senate Finance Committee, led by Sen. Hunter B. Andrews, D-Hampton, proposed taking half of the $200 million reserve fund that Wilder has refused to part with, restoring a third of the education funds Wilder wants to cut and cancelling 15 days of unpaid leave for state employees that Wilder proposed Friday.

Also scrapped under the Senate plan are Wilder's proposal to transfer school construction funds to balance the budget and the limits he put on how high colleges and universities can raise tuition to make up for state cuts.

The House of Delegates' committee wants to limit the unpaid leave days to 8, but set up provisions that would require Wilder to use part of his reserve fund before furloughing employees or cutting deeper into agency budgets. It also would restore part of the education money Wilder wants to cut and would allow colleges to raise tuition again. Most have raised tuition and fees in the last year to deal with earlier cuts.

The money committees, in what members said was a first time move, proposed revisions to a section of the budget that spells out gubernatorial powers. It is a clear slap at Wilder who some lawmakers said exceeded his office's powers by eliminating funding to the some small agencies without General Assembly approval.

""This governor's actions were unprecedented,'' said Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax, a finance committee member and administration critic. The revision of powers, he said, ""represents our refusal to accept his approaches.''

""Let there be no ambiguity - only the General Assembly has the authority to abolish state agencies which are created by law,'' said Sen. Howard P. Anderson, D-Halifax.

Andrews demurred suggestions that he was declaring war on the administration.

""I'm doing my duty,'' he said. ""This is a legislative process. This is what we're suppose to do.''

The House and Senate proposals guarantee that they will first face a showdown with each other and then with the governor. Differences between the Senate and House will be resolved by a six-member conference committee that meets behind closed doors.

The Senate went further than the House in rebuking Wilder.

The House on Sunday approved Wilder's plan to use school construction funds to help balance the budget and issue bonds to replace the construction funds. The Senate panel trashed that plan and substituted its own that would transfer about half of the $162 million that Wilder wants.

The House Appropriations Committee also agreed to go along with Wilder's plan to take millions from the reconstruction of the Route 58 project championed by rural lawmakers while the Senate wants to restore about $3 million of it.

The House did go one step further than the Senate in one area, however, by including a provision on the use of the state helicopter which would restrict its use and force Wilder to spell out when it is used and who rides in it.

Wilder has been criticized for taking personal trips, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, and hiding previously public information on where he has flown and who rode with him.

The boldest move by the Senate was the grab for half of the $200 million reserve fund that Wilder has steadfastly refused to give up. As late as Friday evening, Wilder maintained that he needed to hold onto the fund in case the economic situation got worse.

Wilder's spokeswoman could not be reached Sunday night.

Among proposals by the Senate panel are:

* Restoring $56 million of the $151 million Wilder wants to cut from local school funding. Under the Senate proposal, wealthier divisions would take deeper cuts than poor ones. Compared to Wilder's proposal, the Senate plan would save $1.5 million for Newport News schools, $1.3 million for Hampton, $784,000 for York County and $27,134 for Williamsburg.

The House would restore about $41 million.

* Abolishing tuition caps for colleges and universities and let them raise about $45 million to make-up for cuts. Wilder capped the increases last year. Under the Senate plan, in-state, undergraduate students who now pay 25 percent of their education costs would pay 33 percent to 40 percent of the cost.

The House would allow $42 million to be raised.

""Let me assure you that this proposal is not made lightly,'' said Sen. Elmon T. Gray, D-Sussex, chairman of the finance subcommittee on education. ""In fact, it would be much easier to simply avoid the issue and let the cuts stand.''

* Increasing state financial aid for college students by $10.5 million, a 50 percent hike.